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Started By
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Chicken and Gumbo Question
Posted on 10/24/15 at 3:43 pm
Posted on 10/24/15 at 3:43 pm
Several recipes mention starting with a 3-4 pound hen and cutting into several pieces. Any tricks to this? I assume this means I will serve the gumbo with bones and skis on? TIA
13
Posted on 10/24/15 at 3:46 pm to HurricaneDunc
God bless boneless skinless thighs.
Posted on 10/24/15 at 3:47 pm to Joshjrn
That's exactly what I've used in the past, but I was looking for a new recipe and all three say to start with a whole hen. 
Posted on 10/24/15 at 3:49 pm to HurricaneDunc
I always usually use a hen, Just me, but I cut the raw hen up, debone the breast meat and cut into pieces. Raw breast meat, legs and thighs and giblets go into the gumbo, the rest gets cooked down in stock, then remove the remaining meat from the bones.
Posted on 10/24/15 at 4:12 pm to Joshjrn
quote:
God bless boneless skinless thighs.
AMEN!
Making a gumbo tomorrow and doing the same. Always have. Easiest way and retains a great favor imo.
Posted on 10/24/15 at 4:21 pm to HurricaneDunc
Boil some leg quarters. Let them cool and then skin and debone them. You get a great stock to use as well.
Don't worry about meats listed in a recipe as much as the methods and techniques used in creating the base and seasoning.
Don't worry about meats listed in a recipe as much as the methods and techniques used in creating the base and seasoning.
Posted on 10/24/15 at 4:45 pm to HurricaneDunc
If you make a good gumbo nobody cares about the chicken meat. Nonetheless you can make a better gumbo with cut up fryer pieces then with a hen and you can good flavor from the fryer pieces. Cut 2 to 4 fryers into 10 pieces each (2 each wings, legs,thighs, and 5 pieces from whole breast). Season heavily with salt, red and black pepper, refrigerate several hours until stock and roux are done.
The base of a decent gumbo is the stock. Lots of ways to make one but the simplest is to pick up about 10-15 pounds of chicken backs and neck, cover with cold water, add a couple of bay leaves and boil for about 5 hours. Strain, discard all neck and back meat and bones quickly before wife says something crazy like "you could make a chicken salad out of all that if you just spend an hour or 2 picking the meat off the bones".
You can refrigerate stock over night and skim off the fat which congeals on top. Other way is to float a couple of quarts of ice cubes on stock and immediately skim them off with a slotted spoon, fat will stick to ice cubes,
The stock will make a good gumbo for 20 or more. Make roux, let cool slightly, stir in water, boil roux in water until it turns slightly sweet (non bitter), about an hour , add trinity, then add the stock and andouille. Cook 2-3 hours, then add chicken pieces with all skin and bones still on, cook 45 minutes. Add chopped parsley and scallion and you are done. Andouille and chicken can be browned in a skillet separately before adding.
Doing it this way gives you good depth of flavor from stock and trinity. Won't work with hen which has to cook much longer, but dries out and has a tired flavor. I know lots of recipes say use a cut up hen rather than fryer pieces, and this is faster and simpler to let the hen make the stock, but not nearly as good.
Some ppl like to brown the trinity vegetables in the roux before adding liquid but then onions, etc. absorb oil from the roux, and won't cook into a smooth gumbo.
A chacon a son gout, but this works for me for batches of 20-50 decent servings Only real decision is how thick you want it which determines how much roux to add to the water.
A scoop of potato salad on top never hurts, and some like to float peeled hard boiled eggs on top of chicken or shrimp gumbo.
tl;dr : if this is too long to read definitely make it the simple fast way with a hen and jar roux, you'll never have the patience to make a great gumbo.
The base of a decent gumbo is the stock. Lots of ways to make one but the simplest is to pick up about 10-15 pounds of chicken backs and neck, cover with cold water, add a couple of bay leaves and boil for about 5 hours. Strain, discard all neck and back meat and bones quickly before wife says something crazy like "you could make a chicken salad out of all that if you just spend an hour or 2 picking the meat off the bones".
You can refrigerate stock over night and skim off the fat which congeals on top. Other way is to float a couple of quarts of ice cubes on stock and immediately skim them off with a slotted spoon, fat will stick to ice cubes,
The stock will make a good gumbo for 20 or more. Make roux, let cool slightly, stir in water, boil roux in water until it turns slightly sweet (non bitter), about an hour , add trinity, then add the stock and andouille. Cook 2-3 hours, then add chicken pieces with all skin and bones still on, cook 45 minutes. Add chopped parsley and scallion and you are done. Andouille and chicken can be browned in a skillet separately before adding.
Doing it this way gives you good depth of flavor from stock and trinity. Won't work with hen which has to cook much longer, but dries out and has a tired flavor. I know lots of recipes say use a cut up hen rather than fryer pieces, and this is faster and simpler to let the hen make the stock, but not nearly as good.
Some ppl like to brown the trinity vegetables in the roux before adding liquid but then onions, etc. absorb oil from the roux, and won't cook into a smooth gumbo.
A chacon a son gout, but this works for me for batches of 20-50 decent servings Only real decision is how thick you want it which determines how much roux to add to the water.
A scoop of potato salad on top never hurts, and some like to float peeled hard boiled eggs on top of chicken or shrimp gumbo.
tl;dr : if this is too long to read definitely make it the simple fast way with a hen and jar roux, you'll never have the patience to make a great gumbo.
Posted on 10/24/15 at 4:49 pm to CajunPhil
I dropped the whole chicken in a pot last night and made stock.
Put the chicken in the fridge overnight, then pulled meat from the bones today and added it at the end of the gumbo cook.
You get the flavor from the skin and bones in the stock, but they aren't floating around in your gumbo.
Put the chicken in the fridge overnight, then pulled meat from the bones today and added it at the end of the gumbo cook.
You get the flavor from the skin and bones in the stock, but they aren't floating around in your gumbo.
Posted on 10/24/15 at 4:50 pm to CajunPhil
quote:
wife says something crazy like "you could make a chicken salad out of all that if you just spend an hour or 2 picking the meat off the bones".
are we married to the same woman?Posted on 10/24/15 at 4:55 pm to malvin
quote:
Are we married to the same woman?
You can have her on weekdays, I'll just take her on weekends.
Posted on 10/24/15 at 4:58 pm to CajunPhil
I dropped the whole chicken in a pot last night and made stock.
Put the chicken in the fridge overnight, then pulled meat from the bones today and added it at the end of the gumbo cook.
You get the flavor from the skin and bones in the stock, but they aren't floating around in your gumbo.
This is what I do...........
Put the chicken in the fridge overnight, then pulled meat from the bones today and added it at the end of the gumbo cook.
You get the flavor from the skin and bones in the stock, but they aren't floating around in your gumbo.
This is what I do...........
Posted on 10/24/15 at 8:38 pm to Joshjrn
quote:
God bless boneless skinless thighs.
This. I hate white meat in a gumbo. Dry and chewy. :barf:
Posted on 10/24/15 at 8:40 pm to HurricaneDunc
Costco rotisserie leg quarters 3# for $6.99.
Posted on 10/24/15 at 11:35 pm to CajunPhil
quote:
pick up about 10-15 pounds of chicken backs and neck
Where do you score this, and how much stock do you get out of it?
Posted on 10/25/15 at 2:54 am to HurricaneDunc
No skins or bones in the finished gumbo.
Posted on 10/25/15 at 8:13 am to HurricaneDunc
I use bone in thighs. Pull skin off and trim some of the excess fat. I buy unsalted chicken stock at the store. You can spend all that time on homemade stock and it's not gonna affect the flavor in any meaningful way. I still get the benefit of the collagen from the thigh bones in my gumbo. And the meat falls off an I can pull the bones out.
Posted on 10/25/15 at 8:46 am to RabidTiger
quote:
Where do you score this...
Backs and necks getting harder to find with most chicken coming in pre-cut and pre packaged by the big producers. Even though hit or miss, can still run into them at both the independent IGAs and now and then at chains like WinnDicksie. If you talk to the butcher at the chains or the independents some of the better places will order for when you need them. It's a question of getting it when you want it. If it is out for sale on a random day, I pass on it unless my freezer is nearly empty, cause 15 or 20 lbs of mostly bones and skin take up a lot of room. I've got 3 freezers, and since I frequently cook large portions they are generally short on space. So it's a good strategy if available the week you want to make a gumbo, otherwise you need a bunch of freezer space. Even if you make the stock immediately to freeze for a future gumbo, the stock itself takes a lot of space.
Good slaughter houses like Kirk Martins off Gloria Switch Rd on north side of Lafayette has 10 pound packs of turkey necks which I imagine would also make a good stock but I haven't tried them. As I remember they were pretty inexpensive.
quote:
...how much stock...
Admittedly, I never measure anything, but I would make a ballpark guess of about 8-12 quarts of stock. Hope this helps.
Posted on 10/25/15 at 9:19 am to HurricaneDunc
Hen makes the best gumbo. Skin it & drop pieces-I like to cut bigger pieces in 2-breasts & thighs. If you like deboned chicken, I don't, boil the hen first, reserve stock for gumbo, & debone.
Posted on 10/25/15 at 9:28 am to TIGERFANZZ
I make my stock out of chicken thighs that I just drop in the gravy. I pick out the skins. And mop up the grease....saves time and pots
Posted on 10/25/15 at 10:50 am to HurricaneDunc
Yes, you are correct. You cook the gumbo skin, bones and all. You get some more flavor than you would from boneless skinless. BUT the chicken will get so tender that it will literally fall off the bones. This becomes somewhat of a pain the the arse because you'll have bones, skin, and gristle floating around and you'll want to fish all that out/separate the rest of the chicken from the bones.
It's a Catch 22. You just have to decide if the added flavor is worth the annoyance of messing with all the chicken bones and what not.
It's a Catch 22. You just have to decide if the added flavor is worth the annoyance of messing with all the chicken bones and what not.
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